Before joining the ABC in 1992, Rachael Kohn taught Religious Studies at Sydney University and at universities in England and Canada.

ABC archives

It was exactly 100 years since the original Parliament was held at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair when swamis, gurus and spiritual leaders came to America for the first time.

It was my first overseas assignment and I was alone.

The BBC team outnumbered me by three, but I had an advantage.

Being an academic in religious studies, I knew the works and reputations of many of the speakers, and with unbridled confidence I invited a litany of them to my hotel suite for interviews.

From Hans Kung, who drafted the Parliament's key document, to Richard Rubinstein, the "death of God" theologian who had controversially defended Sun Myung Moon — convicted leader of South Korea's controversial Unification Church (known as the 'Moonies') — I interviewed over 20 participants with my bulky cassette recorder.

But not everyone was welcome at the world's largest religion jamboree.

Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the black nationalist group Nation of Islam, who was known for his racist and anti-Semitic statements, gate-crashed the event.

He held his own media conference at the Palmer House Hotel, where the conference was based.

Rachael Kohn has covered religion and spirituality on radio and television at the ABC for 26 years.

ABC News: Siobhan Hegarty

Dangerous cults and disgraced sheiks

My programs on religion would provide an unparalleled opportunity to hear the best and the brightest people articulate their religious traditions in a way that might foster the peace that Kung and others dreamt of.

But the 1990s were anything but peaceful.

Terrorism fuelled by Islamist extremism had already taken a toll at the World Trade Centre in 1993, resulting in over 1,000 injuries and six deaths.

It would continue around the world.

Rachael Kohn has interviewed many esteemed religious leaders over her career, including the Dalai Lama.

Rachael Kohn has interviewed many esteemed religious leaders over her career, including the Dalai Lama.

The 9/11 disaster killed almost 3,000 American civilians, and the Bali bombing, in 2002, killed 202 people — 88 of them Australians.

A rising fear of the Muslim community needed to be addressed, and the programs that I created — such as Religion Today (1994-1997), with producer Stephen Godley, and The Spirit of Things, with producer Geoff Wood (1997-present) — regularly addressed interfaith relations with a specific focus on Islam.

But who was to speak on behalf of the ethnically and religiously divided Muslim community?

Survivors and stories of rebirth

In 26 years at the ABC, I have interviewed many survivors and leaders of cults (sometimes termed "new religious movements").

They range from the second-in-command at Waco, Marc Breault, to the jailed Australian exile and follower of Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh, Jane Stork, who was part of a plot to murder a doctor and a judge (you may know her from the Netflix series, Wild, Wild Country).

Then there was the high-level member of Peoples Temple, Deborah Layton, who described herself as a true believer and a victim of Jim Jones; and Nan Sook Hong, the daughter-in-law of Sun Myung Moon (from the aforementioned "Moonies") who told me how she escaped the high-security compound in New York State.

Kohn has always strived to produce accurate, balanced and ethical coverage of religion.

Kohn has always strived to produce accurate, balanced and ethical coverage of religion.

Supplied: Rachael Kohn

There were plenty of home-grown cults that made the news, too, including William Kamm, known as "The Little Pebble", in Nowra, New South Wales.

He acquired underage wives, called Queens and Princesses, in order to produce a master race.

In a similar cult fantasy, Anne Hamilton-Byrne claimed to be the reborn Christ.

Her Victorian group, known as "The Family", adopted babies from unsuspecting mothers and turned them into drug-induced identical children with the help of peroxide and bowl haircuts.

That story is soon to be an ABC documentary.

Dire stories make good copy and even better drama, but the immensely positive role that religion plays in the lives of individuals, in communities, and in society has been the mainstay of The Spirit of Things.

It is more than the social welfare ethos that religious communities consistently demonstrate and the spiritual practices, like yoga and meditation, that benefit one's body and mind.

It is the profoundly transformative effect of faith in people's lives that is deeply impressive.

These stories of lives redeemed, like the former drug dealer and gang leader, Tony Hoang, who turned his life around and now encourages high school students to do the same, is the real business of religion.

In fact, when people ask me who are the most impressive people I've interviewed in my career as a religion journalist, it is rarely the highly esteemed religious leaders.

On the contrary, it is the ordinary people whose lives were headed for ruin and were turned around by their faith.

It is this record of religion as a positive force for good that journalists also need to cover if a fair and accurate understanding is to be had.

In carving her own path to the top of the political game, Julie Bishop has learned to be as bold, confident and skilful as anyone in Parliament — traits all on display in a cutting final speech, writes Annabel Crabb.